Russia stokes fears of an arms race with threat to deliver anti-aircraft missiles to Syria's Assad regime
Moscow says move is to restrain 'hot heads' in the West
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Russia has said that it plans to deliver an advanced missile defence system to Bashar al-Assad that would strongly boost the embattled Syrian leader’s defensive capabilities, in part to restrain “hot heads” in the West from planning intervention scenarios.
Coming just a day after the EU failed to renew an embargo on delivering arms to the Syrian rebels, there is now a fear that an arms race could further intensify the Syrian civil war, which has already taken more than 80,000 lives.
Last night it was reported that The White House has asked the Pentagon to draw up plans for a no-fly zone inside Syria.
Greece’s Balkan identity may obliterate Brussels link
Greece letter: Specific regional geopolitics lurk behind the goal of a unified Europe
Richard Pine
Imagine an EU member state where the public service relied, for its efficiency, on bribery and corruption. Imagine a state where the hospital service was so underresourced that patients had to bring a friend or relative to undertake their feeding, washing and basic nursing. Imagine a state where shops that traditionally sold handcrafted goods now promoted Taiwanese dreamcatchers.
Are we talking about Greece? Well no, actually. These are the thoughts of novelist Donna Leon’s Venetian detective, Commisario Guido Brunetti as he walks his native city, wondering how to bring to justice criminals whom the law and its administrators protect.
Protests over Uganda's clampdown on independent media
Ugandan police have fired tear gas at journalists protesting at the week-long closure of key independent media.
This follows reported arguments among army generals over whether the president's son is to succeed him.
Riot police scattered around 100 journalists, their supporters and human rights activists who tried to gather outside the offices of the Daily Monitor and Red Pepper newspapers, which were closed on May 20 by armed police. "This is a violation of media freedom and economic sabotage," rights activist Geoffrey Ssebaggala shouted at police.
The closure of the two papers leaves only one major operating newspaper, the government-owned New Vision.
Two radio stations in the Monitor's offices also remain off air. "Instead of arresting criminals killing people in the country, you are here terrorising us," journalist Moses Ouma told police as they dragged him away from outside the Monitor's offices.
Colombia, FARC rebels make peace progress with land deal
The Colombian government and FARC peace negotiators announced an agreement on land reform this weekend, just days before the rebel group's 49th anniversary. Land issues are at the root of the conflict.
Six months after the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Colombian government first sat down to try and negotiate an end to the country's half-century-long conflict, many citizens felt their hopes deflate. The talks were beginning to appear to be just another failed attempt at peace, and critics' voices were growing louder.
But on Sunday came a major breakthrough. The FARC and the government made a joint announcement stating that they had reached an agreement for "radical transformations" in the Colombian countryside. Land rights have been a flash point of the conflict, and the FARC claim they are the reason they rose up against the state 49 years ago today.
29 May 2013 Last updated at 00:49 GMT
Stefan Kaye: India's 'jailhouse rocker' remembers days in prison
British musician Stefan Kaye spent three weeks in Delhi's notorious Tihar jail as a prisoner and then went back with his band to hold a concert there. He spoke to the BBC's Geeta Pandey about his time in jail and all the good that came out of adversity.
On most Saturday nights, Stefan Kaye can be found at a smoky basement nightclub in a fashionable neighbourhood of Delhi. On the night I visit, Kaye is performing live with one of his other bands - Jazz B'stards.
I'm asked to pay 300 rupees ($5.39; £3.56) as entry charge and my wrist is stamped before I'm allowed in.
In China, 'cancer villages' a reality of life
May 29, 2013 -- Updated 0032 GMT (0832 HKT)
Wuli Village, China (CNN) -- Feng Xiaofeng moves down an alleyway toward her home in Wuli, an ordinary village in eastern China's Zhejiang province, with an extraordinary problem.
Feng slides open the doors with a quick thrust. But before she says a word, she begins to cry and points at two identically framed photos side by side on her wall. They show an older and younger man. They look like blown up passport pictures or perhaps faded formal portraits.
These photographs haunt Feng.
"I don't want to stay in this house. I don't want to sleep here at night," she says. "My husband was the pillar of the family and when he died it was like the pillar of our house collapsing. Then my son was taken too."
Taken 10 years apart by cancer.
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